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When To Add Potential Impact Activities Into The Schedule

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Jimmy McPhail
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Hi all,

I am new to the Forum and have a question for you.

What is the standard practice for accounting for potential schedule impacts that may lead to a delay?  Specifically, when do you add the Impact activity into the logic network?  I have been asked to do two different methods over my years of experience - 1) Add an Impact activity when an unforeseen situation causes the need for work stoppage or moving to another location of the work out of sequence, or 2) Do not add time to the schedule until approved by change order.  There have been cases where each of these scenarios has had its place, but I have never been certain what the standard practice is.

Another question is - Is the "potential impact" activity added with an estimated duration assigned, or should it be allowed to accrue day-for-day until it ends?

 

Your advice and methodology is appreciated.

Replies

Anoon Iimos
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You don't need to be an expert to answer this question. Of course you need to reflect everything that may impact your original plan (baseline schedule). Otherwise, what's the purpose of planning anyway? Plans (baseline schedules) don't always turn out exactly, the way you originally planned them. Comparison between Baseline Schedule vs. Current Schedule is essential. And that's the elementary of planning that must not be misconstrued. To answer the originator: Reflect everything in the "current schedule" (by planner's instinct). Of course your "baseline schedule" remains as is (until deemed necessary for changes). And how do you validly determine the requirement for "change orders" by the way? Again (for me), the comparison between baseline schedule vs. current schedule is essential.
Rafael Davila
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The following might be of interest regarding your question about ongoing delay events.

https://docplayer.net/63332650-Time-impact-analysis-presented-by-abe-nejad-and-cody-belcher.html

  • A TIA focuses on impacts that have already occurred or occurring.

Time Impact Analysis in Windows - Concurrency Analysis Lucia Vernon - 2018 AACE® INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL PAPER CDR.2849

http://www.long-intl.com/articles/Long_Intl_Reservation_of_Rights_to_Make_a_Cumulative_Impact_Claim.pdf

http://www.long-intl.com/articles.php

For a better response to this question I suggest posting the question about ongoing delay events under Forensic Claims Analysis Forum.  This is very complex issue, contract conditions are key, advise from the experts should be welcomed, expect differing opinions.

I will be following what the claim experts say.

Good Luck

Jimmy McPhail
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Zoltan Palffy, I agree with your response.  In accumulating potential impact durations in the schedule and comparing back to the baseline for Variance, the impact durations that have not been approved by executed change order must be filtered out of the variance report, yes?

Rafael Davila
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The  USACE / NAVFAC / AFCEC / NASA UNIFIED FACILITIES GUIDE SPECIFICATIONS (SECTION 01 32 01.00 10 PROJECT SCHEDULE) is an example of such dumb specification in the USA.

3.3.13 Added and Deleted Activities - Do not delete activities from the project schedule or add new activities to the schedule without approval from the Contracting Officer. 

Yes – it happens, and as we say Monkey see Monkey do, frequently such requirement is pasted into other specifications.

Jimmy McPhail
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Thanks for the responses and links!

Rafael Davila
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Dumb owners/consultants/specifications do happen they cannot understand there is a difference between an update that does not represent a change and an approved baseline/re-baseline schedule.  I guess there are still many monkeys writing specifications that make no sense at all.  I have seen many such occurrences.

As you just said some specifications/contracts include the following 2) Do not add time to the schedule until approved by change order. 

  • In such case it is not an option but considered by some as mandatory contract condition.
  • Dumb owners/consultants will not allow you to make such changes to schedule updates, you might have no other option than put in record a you are not allowed to do so, that you are submitting your schedules under protest, and reserve the right to make a claim and make use of the Ghost Schedule.

Fortunately frequently new specifications mandate for you to show real conditions.  Problems still happens when someone paste old specifications into new contracts. 

Most old specifications do not allow for baseline to show early completion.  This can prevent you from increasing the probabilities of meeting contract target dates.  For the good, some new specifications mandate for some Terminal Float.

Zoltan Palffy
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you have to go with option #1 because a delay my NEVER turn into a change notice. 

the whole point of adding the impact is to give everyone a heads up of a possible impact and to provide possible work arounds or not even issue the change notice. 

for example you can put in a potential change notice and you may determine that due to your limiited manpower thsi may delay the project. So now you need to make the owner aware of this potential impact and give him the ability to say do not do the change notice I will give it to someone else to do. 

The point here is that if you do not reflect the potential delay or impact then you are not giving the owner the opportunity to make an intellegent decision on the impact or change. 

Rafael Davila
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If you are prevented to manage your own schedule taking into account current events consider using a Ghost Schedule.  

GHOST SCHEDULES   

Impossible to get a reliable schedule without taking into consideration changed conditions.